One of the most basic yet hard-to-nail down concepts is that in DM we write to the prospective customer’s self-interest and not your own (or the client you’re working for.) Further, the self-interest boils down to two key questions:

What’s in it for me and how much?

Whether you’re writing a 30-page magalog, simple postcard or email, these are the two questions you need to satisfy in order to get the prospect to act. Every feature and benefit to how you craft your offer to how you ultimately design the piece has to support the reader’s decision making process.

So how do you do this?

Write to the "you" as much as you can, use only the "I" and "we" when necessary. For example, instead of "We offer…" write "You get…"  Or instead of "Our company has 30 years of creating outstanding widgets…" you write "You can be assured that our widgets will get the job done. Our 30 years of experience and satisfied customers…"

You get the idea.

Except for the proverbial love letter (which usually has a 100% open rate) and a box (since we all get excited and expectant when a box arrives), no one is hanging around their physical or email box waiting to hear from your client and their widgets, UNLESS right from the get-go you get their attention and write to what they care about – which is all about them, and nothing about you except how it impacts them.

Sounds like a bad date, I know. ("Enough about me, what do you think of me?" But that’s how it goes.

Consider why you’re reading this. I may be a lovely person and all that (some people think so), but you’re reading this to learn something which will benefit YOU. Me? I just do it for the joy.

Essential Takeaway Point:
It’s all about the reader, not the writer.